Just in case some of you don't see the local papers, we have a pretty big weekend coming up here at Joe's Pond. On Saturday morning, the special short-term special cancellation stamp will be unveiled at the West Danville Post Office. The stamp commemorates Joe's Pond Association's beginnings 90 years ago. Well, almost. The first meeting was actually held in 1921 with about 44 present. Dues were set at $1.00 and the first record of dues collected was in 1922. The property where the pavilion and tennis courts are now was purchased by selling "shares" at $25. There was a small store still on the property, and that was sold for $450.

The Association had regular meetings throughout the summers, with clam bakes, picnics, corn roasts and sugar parties (maple, of course), and collected dues from each camp. 1931 introduced the first "newsletter." In 1932 there was no annual meeting and in 1933, dues were waived due to hard times.

By 1935 there were 33 camps on the pond and there was some discussion that perhaps the Association should disband, but it was voted to continue "for protective purposes" of the pond, and to promote social relationships among the cottagers. I think it may have been about this time that there was some grumbling that all the activity was taking place on the east side of the pond and perhaps the campers on the west shore should have their own association. Of course, that didn't happen and everyone worked and socialized together, as they do now.

Another suggestion that didn't work was when, in 1943, it was suggested it would lend some dignity to the place if people began referring to it as Joe's Lake. I also remember reading somewhere that someone once petitioned the Vermont Legislature to have Joe's Pond renamed Lake St. Joseph, but that didn't fly, either.

Garey Larrabee, our postmaster came up with the idea for the special cancellation and on Saturday he will begin using it. Garey said there is a limited time it can be used. You can have an envelope with the canceled stamp for the price of a regular stamp, or you can bring in your own envelope and just buy a regular stamp to put on and have Garey use the special cancellation stamp on it. Whether you send it to someone or keep it as a souvenir is up to you.

Garey and Jane are having light refreshments at the post office on Saturday, so stop in before you come to the JPA meeting or plan on stopping after the meeting. Remember, though, Kids' Day is directly after the JPA meeting, so you may want to stay around for that. There will be refreshments available then, too. After that you can go home and take a nap, but be sure you're at a good vantage point to see the fireworks at dusk - weather permitting, of course - on Saturday night, and get your luminaries (or luminaria, if you prefer) out on your shoreline as soon as it gets dark. Those are available at the store/post office, too.

Sunday there are special church services in Peacham and an early service (8:30 a.m.) at Cabot; and parades. Cabot's parade starts at 11 o'clock - I'm not sure about North Danville or any others. Lots of things to enjoy over the weekend, so get out and have fun, but be careful, especially on the roads, around fireworks, and in the water. Stay safe.

Hi -

My church, Peacham Congregational, this Sunday features The Maple Leaf Seven at the worship service at 9:30 a.m. This is an annual and great service. Everyone is welcome.

Just in case anyone might be interested. Coffee and fellowship after the service.

A little extra wind this afternoon (here at Joe's Pond)!

All is well !

Homer and Margaret Fitts

- NOTICE -

Church services at the Cabot United Church
Sunday, July 4th
will be at 8:30 a.m.
for this Sunday only.
As always, fellowship and light refreshments will follow the service.
All are welcome.

Good Beautiful Morning!

Nice to see steady sunshine again. Yesterday I kept hoping and waiting for it to really burn off for keeps, but that really didn't happen until late afternoon, and even then we may have had a shower or two after dark. Today looks like a winner, though.

Here's something to mark on your calendars if you are at Joe's Pond -

Cabot School Bottle Drives to benefit the Marine Biology students going to Belize in April 2011:  July 11, Sept. 5, Nov. 28, Jan 2, and the weekend after the Super Bowl.    If anyone would like me to come get bottles on off-dates, call me 563-2488.  Or if people would like, they can leave bottles in front of my garage at 936 West Shore Road.
Thank you.  Helen Morrison

I had a neat photo arrive from a friend in (I think) Keene, N. H. I met John at the funeral of our friend who died in York, Maine a few weeks ago. He was a relative of her husband who had been previously married to one of my aunts, and I gave him photos of some of his family I'd known long ago, etc., etc. You know how those things go - sometimes it's a really small world. Anyway, he then put me in touch with his cousin Kevin who lives part-time in York. Long story short, here's the picture John sent to Kevin and me. This restaurant in Swanzey, near Keene, NH rents the crab for advertising . . .

Kevin responded saying that last Thursday a small tornado went through York and took out some very old oak trees near his home there and a bunch of utility poles. No damage to his place, but he said his wife is busy clearing what she can and he will be home soon to finish up the big stuff. He has a charter boat business in the Bahamas during the winter months.

We got nearly an inch and a half of rain last night. It really poured for a while, but I was surprised when I read my rain gauge this morning that we had that much. The pond will be filling up, and the rubber dam may not be able to handle quite all of the water so check things around your waterfront so they don't float away on you - if things haven't already!

We'll be watching the news today to see how bad the fire at the Allen farm on Rt. 15 in Walden was last night. The alarm came in at about 8 o'clock and according to a neighbor who happened to have her scanner on, most of the area fire and rescue departments were called out. She didn't know details, but believed it was the barn and may have started due to wet hay. Since the barn is attached to the house, both may have been damaged - and there may have been animals in the barn. I think it may not have been too bad because at around 11 o'clock, all units were leaving the scene, and that probably wouldn't happen if it had turned into a really big blaze.

Diane Rossi wants me to let people know she's really pleased with luminaria sales so far. She was out yesterday along W. Shore Road and found lots of people here and sales were good. She said Diane Sherwood is also selling (sorry, I had her on my list of sales people, but got confused thinking the "Diane" I'd written down was Diane Rossi . . . Don't forget to pick up your luminaries at the store if you don't already have them.

This is going to be a big weekend with the JPA meeting on Saturday at 10 a.m. and Kid's Day at 11:30, then fireworks and luminaries at dusk. On the Fourth there are parades and lots of things going on in Cabot and also North Danville, I believe. Hope you can all get out there and have fun. I am looking forward to being at the historical society building on the Fourth. I haven't been down at all this year, so will be taking a couple boxes of things down that I've finished working on over the winter, and if it isn't too busy, perhaps can help Bonnie get them displayed or stored. I just received the replicas I printed from the 1884 autograph book that belonged to Mrs. M. F. Wells, Jane McKay's great grandmother. There are signatures and messages from people such as J. P. Lamson, Walter Abbott of E. Cabot, Walter Perry of Walden, O. R. Collins, and Sarah Dow - about 49 individuals signed her book. Mrs. Wells taught Sunday School and the book was a gift from her students. Above is the cover of the book - it's a little larger than a 3x5 index card. Some of the writing is absolutely lovely inside, like the page below. Not every page has decoration, and some of the writing was obviously by some of Mrs. Wells' students, and not very pretty - but I'm sure she treasured the little book. I couldn't have it printed in the exact size, but came pretty close. It was great fun scanning each page (Jane McKay graciously let me do that last summer) and putting it together. Some of the pages showed signs of age, of course, 125 years will do that! But it looks pretty good and we can let people look through it without worrying about damaging the original, which is a bit delicate.

Fred got his lawn mowed yesterday, fortunately. He'd been waiting for things to dry out a bit, but mid-afternoon yesterday decided it probably wasn't going to get any better, so went for it. It's amazing that he can do our whole big lawn in less than two hours. My father used to mow a little every day - but then, he was 89 years old . . . ! Fred has it down to a science now and zooms over our steep bank with no problems or spills. He has been known to get into some difficult situations, especially in some of our wet spots, but now he's worked all the kinks out and has a "system." We don't trim, although sometimes I go out with the old walk-behind and go where he can't with the riding mower. Now I need to rake up some of the heavier stuff for the garden. My first layer of clippings is getting thin and I have some late crops that are coming in now that will need some cover. Lots of fishworms in the garden this year - and that's a good sign.

Don't forget the JPA meeting on Saturday, July 3; then, directly after the meeting is Kid's Day. Fireworks will be at dusk, weather permitting. By the way, you'll find a sign up sheet at Hastings Store for Kid's Day, but if you can't get down to sing your child up, just come. We'd like to have you come to the meeting, too - kids are allowed! Click on the poster to find out more.

If you've been hearing emergency vehicles on Rt. 15, my sources tell me the Allen farm on the way to Hardwick is burning. It's on Rt. 15, just past the four corners in Walden. House and barn are attached, and I was told it started in the barn, the house may go as well. There was some indication there may have been animals in the barn, but I don't know for sure. That makes two Walden farms that have burned this summer.

I had an e-mail today from Nancy Buttura, and she says:

We are having our annual Buttura fireworks display next Sunday, July 4th. We usually have it after the Italian dinner but a few family members won't be around this year.

We thank Nancy for letting us know, and she said she'd let me know if they need a rain date. We're hoping for really nice weather the weekend of the 4th, of course.
I know a lot of you look forward to the Buttura fireworks celebration. There will be a lot going on here at Joe's Pond over the Fourth!

We want to let everyone know that we will be doing the luminaries again this year. For anyone who doesn't know about these, it's a cool fund raiser for Joe's Pond Association. The intent is to have luminaries displayed about every 5-10 feet along the shoreline of the pond. It is absolutely beautiful to see when lots of them are out, and they cost only $1.00 each. We do it on the night of the fireworks, which makes the evening even more festive.

So when you see Diane coming with her "Red Flyer" cart loaded with candles and paper bags, be ready to join the fun and help create the beautiful "ring of light," around the pond. They are easy to assemble - just put a little sand, dirt or stones in the bottom of the white paper bag and stick the candle in the middle. It's ready to light and set along the shore in front of your cottage, reflecting on the water and visible from all your neighbors.

They are also available at Hastings Store and from anyone on the committee - Pam Buttura, Patty Rubalcaba, Sue Bouchard or Diane Rossi, so if you aren't at home when someone comes with them (and the ladies may not be able to get to every single camp), pick yours up at the store, or give someone a call to bring them for you. Now all we need is nice weather . . .

I don't know how many of you remember the first time we used the luminaries, but it was quite a number of years ago - 1979, in fact, when Ted Chase Sr. proposed and chaired it as a fund raiser. That year it brought in $100 - the next year over $300. It may have continued for a year or two after that, but it became difficult to find people willing to oversee and distribute them, so it was dropped for a while. Later, Jane Milne did it, and now Diane Rossi has been doing it for the past several years with, as she says, her "faithful sales crew." Buy extras to use other nights - Diane says they really don't last more than one evening, but at $1.00 each you can enjoy them during other evening events during the summer.

Below is notice of music events in our area this summer. We'll also list on our "events page" on the web site:

Tenth Anniversary Summer Concert Series

At the Old Schoolhouse Common - Marshfield Vermont

Thursday Nights at 6:30

July 8^th Doug Perkins and Patrick Ross Doug on guitar and Patrick on fiddle. This dynamic duo features bluegrass fiddler Patrick Ross and guitarist Doug Perkins. Patrick, a native of Canaan, VT is nationally known.

July 15^th Sara Grace and the Suits With a unique blend of styles that is best described as “soul-folk. Her percussive guitar style and funky arrangements, along with a charismatic stage presence and ultra-soulful vocal delivery make Sara Grace a force to be reckoned with.

July 22^nd Cold Country Blue Grass Traditional bluegrass tunes, gospel numbers, and some contemporary tunes. Band members include Bill Moulton, Craig Whipple, Jeanette Hogan, Con Hogan and Tony Washburn.

July 29^th The Roaring Dandelions Dan Chodorkoff, Ellis Jacobs, Dave Smith and Ric Nudell. Blues and Rhythm and Blues.

August 5^th Stone Cold Roosters A brainchild of Colin McCaffrey, The Stone Cold Roosters are a band that can strut, swing and rock across decades of American music with style. Classic country, Swamp-rock, Hillbilly-funk, Blues, Western Swing and Honky-tonk are just a few of the stops the Roosters make on their continental tour.

August 12^th Tenth anniversary celebration with Two Shoes Off Susannah Blachly, George White and Dan Haley: Funky Acoustic Folk Trio. Come to a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the summer concert series. Refreshments, surprise guests and more!